The Riot At Robinson: Guards Recall Hours Of Fear

July 24, 1994|By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER; Courant Staff Writer

ENFIELD — The concrete wall digs into Erik Kaplan's back as he recoils from 200 inmates beating each other in the prison compound. Some are swinging broken broomsticks and chunks of wood torn from prison buildings.

Dozens more inmates swarm into the compound from the recreation yard. Most have white T-shirts wrapped around their faces to conceal their identities.

Kaplan, a 26-year-old guard with 4 1/2 years' experience, is scared. He is unarmed, equipped only with a radio and a pair of handcuffs. He can see the blue shirts of a few other guards about 150 feet away, but he can't reach them.

It's about 6:45 p.m. on July 12 in the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution. It is Kaplan's first riot.

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In interviews last week, Kaplan and two other guards provided the first detailed look at the riot that killed two inmates, injured 36 and destroyed $250,000 worth of property.

A few minutes before the trouble started, the medium-security prison was quiet. Kaplan was patrolling the circle -- an open, 100-yard-wide yard surrounded by dormitory buildings. About 200 inmates were gathered there, some sitting on picnic tables, others walking from group to group, whispering and moving on.

The whispering made Kaplan uneasy. He edged toward a cluster of 50 inmates and tried to eavesdrop.

Suddenly, 100 more inmates poured into the circle from the recreation yard. They squared off against the group of 50 and taunted them. It sounded like a battle cry to Kaplan. He backed against the building so no one could attack him from behind.

A few of the newcomers threw rocks. The group of 50 swelled as friends rushed to their side. Before Kaplan had a chance to react, two groups of 100 men each confronted each other, separated by about 10 feet.

One side, prison officials said later, was the 20 Love gang. The other was The Nation.

Kaplan was pinned against the building, looking down the narrow no-man's land. For what was probably less than a minute, but felt like a long time to Kaplan, the two sides snarled at one another.

Then several inmates leaped forward and started shoving. The other side shoved back. The combatants separated for a few seconds. Then the gangs surged forward and began to fight. In seconds, some inmates had been beaten to the ground.

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As Kaplan tries to disappear into the wall behind him, the fighting mass of inmates rolls away. He slips off and runs toward the lieutenant's office about 50 yards across the compound, where 10 other officers are gathered.

Among friends, Kaplan and the other guards wait for orders over their radios and watch each others' backs. Soon, a guard with a German shepherd, dispatched from the Somers prison down the street, bolts into the compound and joins them. Kaplan is relieved to see the dog. He knows the inmates hate the dogs.

A few more inmates are running from between the buildings to join the riot.

Carl Robinson is not like other prisons, where guards can isolate disturbances by locking inmates in cells and shutting riot fences. It is an open, dormitory-style compound where inmates can move freely about.

In the circle, the fighting seems to be winding down. Everyone is yelling, but some inmates are just standing around. Suddenly, about 15 minutes after the fighting started, the inmates scatter.

Kaplan wonders where they are going. He hears it on his radio. Members of 20 Love are breaking into a maintenance shed to his left behind one of the dormitory buildings. Members of The Nation are breaking into a carpentry shop on the other side of the prison.

Armed now, the inmates are regrouping. Members of The Nation are massing to Kaplan's right, about 100 yards away. They have pipes, screwdrivers, hammers and two-by-fours scavenged from the carpentry shop.

The 20 Love gang is regrouping to his left. They have broken rakes, shovels and gardening shears from the maintenance shed. Some of the shears are broken in two and taped to rake and shovel handles.

Although Kaplan can't see it, fighting has broken out elsewhere in the prison. He hears a steady roar. Windows shatter off to his left. The sirens of the Enfield and state police wail beyond the prison fence.

In the circle, the gangs clash in a sea of swinging sticks, pipes and flailing arms. Several inmates throw weightlifting bars dragged in from the recreation yard. Others swing socks filled with padlocks taken from footlockers.

Kaplan's radio continues to crackle. ``They're breaking into the bubble! They're breaking into the bubble!'' comes a call from a guard in one of the housing buildings.

The ``bubbles'' are guard stations inside the six dormitory buildings. They are half-round and made of bullet-proof glass. Rioting inmates beat on four of them with two-by-fours and pipes. The guards inside, two in each bubble, lock themselves in the bathrooms.